A High Court sitting in Sokoto State has sentenced three men, including a foreign national, to death by hanging, following their conviction on charges bordering on terrorism and arms proliferation.
The convicted persons were charged to court by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Naijaonpoint reports that the convicts are Yusuf Muhammad (alias Sallau), a Nigerien; Jabbi Alhaji Yalle; and Kabiru Muhammad.
They were earlier arrested by the DSS Counter Terrorism Unit in connection with cross-border criminal activities bordering on arms trafficking and terrorism.
The case, marked SS/45c/2026, was presided over by Justice Muhammad Nuraddeen Bello of High Court No. 23, Sokoto.
Delivering judgment, Justice Bello found all three defendants guilty as charged and sentenced them to death by hanging. The court also ordered the forfeiture of all monetary exhibits recovered from the convicts to the Federal Government.
“The conviction is the latest in a series of successful prosecutions by the DSS in its sustained operations against terrorism and organised cross-border criminal networks across Nigeria,” Justice Bello said.
In other news, the DSS has raised objections to a proposal to allow foreign organizations to fund security operations in Nigeria through a proposed Trust Fund.
According to the DSS, such a move could undermine national sovereignty, compromise operational confidentiality and expose the country’s intelligence architecture to external influence.
The position of the secret police was made known on Thursday during the public hearing of three bills by the House of Representatives.
The bills include the Department of State Services Trust Fund Bill (HB.2178), the Strategic Intelligence Management Institute Bill (HB.2589) and the DSS Research and Development Institute Bill (HB.2716).
In its presentation, the DSS described the proposed Trust Fund as a significant initiative aimed at providing dedicated and sustainable financing for intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism efforts and broader national security operations.
